Edwin Harris
Under Fire, 1891
Oil on canvas
71.1 x 91.5 cm (28 x 36 ins.)
Framed: 97.2 x 115.6 cm (38 1/4 x 45 1/2 ins.)
Framed: 97.2 x 115.6 cm (38 1/4 x 45 1/2 ins.)
Edwin Harris 1855-1906
Spring Flowers
Oil on canvas
66.7 x 76.5cm (26 ¼ x 30 ins.)
Framed: 88.9 x 99.1 cm (35 x 39 ins.)
Framed: 88.9 x 99.1 cm (35 x 39 ins.)
Provenance
Private collection, UK, probably acquired at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists 1903 Autumn exhibition. Thence by descent.
Sale, Bonhams, London, 19th Century European, Victorian & British Impressionist Art, 26 September 2019, lot 80.
With Richard Green Fine Art, London.
Private collection.
Exhibitions
Birmingham, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Autumn Exhibition, 1903, no. 42.
Literature
R. Langley, Edwin Harris 1855-1906: An Introduction to His Life and Art, Truran, Truro, 2008, p.48
The depiction of a young woman seated within a cottage interior was a subject Edwin Harris returned to frequently and one for which he became especially well known, earning him the sobriquet of the ‘master of the window-seat scene’. Spring Flowers (1903) is a fresh and delicately observed rural genre scene depicting two young women preparing bunches of daffodils and other narcissi for sale. Their contrasting blouses, one in soft rose pink and the other in pale green, introduce a gentle note of colour against the predominantly warm, muted tones of the cottage interior. To the right of the composition, a pot of deep crimson flowers, possibly carnations or red wallflowers (Erysimum cheiri), provides a further accent of colour. Harris has rendered these blooms with considerable freedom and confidence, in an impressionistic manner that makes precise botanical identification difficult.
The dark, rustic furniture is beautifully offset by the light, whitewashed walls and the women's pale aprons. Throughout the composition, fresh green foliage provides a subtle visual continuity, from the cottage door and the basket of freshly gathered flowers in the foreground to the more formally arranged blooms on the table to the right. Although the subject depicts an everyday occupation, Harris imbues the scene with an appealing sense of tranquillity and quiet industry. There is an understated poetry in this simple domestic moment, conveyed through the interplay of light, colour and carefully observed detail.
Harris possessed a particular sensitivity to the poetic qualities of ordinary domestic life, finding beauty and narrative interest in seemingly unremarkable scenes. Spring Flowers was exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Autumn Exhibition in 1903, where it was purchased. The painting subsequently remained in the same family by descent for over a century, until 2019.
Related artworks
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Edwin HarrisA Moment by the Fireside, 1891Oil on canvas laid to board48.9 x 39.4cm (19 1/4 x 15 1/2ins.)
Framed: 69.4 x 59.9cm (27 5/16 x 23 9/16ins.) -
Edwin HarrisBetsy Lanyon, c. 1884Oil on canvas30.5 X 22.9 cm (12 x 9 ins.)
Framed: 49.0 x 41.0 cm (19.3 x 16.1 ins.)
